Originally Posted by
cyclinfool
Have not a huge amount fo riding this year, maybe about 60 miles a week but I had my first flat of the season today. However what I wanted to write about was not the flat, but rather what cam after. This was a slow leak so I was able to put air back in the tire and ride home without changing it. When I got home I looked in my toolbox and had one tube left. I don't think I have restocked in a few seasons. The tube I had in my tool box had been patched but that's OK. I fixed the flat and then pulled out my bucket where I toss the tubes that have punctures and a patch kit and went to work restocking my supply. I patched 6 tubes and tossed three away, two had a bent valve and one had a stick on patch that failed. I found that the stickon patches last about 1 year and I don't trust the glue residue to not interfere with a regular patch cement so I did not want to re-patch it, I stopped using them 3 years ago so that tube must have been in the bucket for awhile. I also noticed that some of the repaired tubes had been patched 3 times now. I will probably order some new tubes and a another patch kit. Regular tubes run about $5 and a kit with 6 patches runs about $1.50.
I don't know why I patch old tubes, but it feel like it's the right thing to do. I also don't mind riding on tubes repaired with regular patches, they hold up just fine. But I also don't carry a chain break tool - just say'in.
I patch tubes all the time, after I patch them, they wait a day for the glue to set, then they get water tested, I let the air out, roll them up, and put them in a ziplock bag, which is labelled as to the size and number of patches. They then go in the spares box.When I replace a tire, I get a new tube, which gives me an extra spare, if I have more then 3 in that size, I toss the one with the most patches. Now there are other uses for old tubes, for example the big chain lock in the garage has an old tube over it (that has two patches).
I remember as a kid, we had a tin of rubber cement, you would cut pieces out of old tubes, put some cement on them, and on the tube you were patching, wait until it got tacky, put the two together and you had a patch. The tin of cement probably had 100 toxic chemicals in it, but for a dollar it probably contained enough cement to fix a couple of thousand flats.....